Design of Microfluidic Mixer Utilizing Pressure Disturbances

Abstract

A novel micro mixer was designed and optimized by using numerical simulations. The performance of the mixer was tested by mixing two aqueous solutions under the microscope and the flow field was visualized using two different dyes. Efficient mixing was achieved by using pressure disturbances. Optimal mixing conditions were found by parametric studies using numerical simulations. Based on results of numerical simulation, more than 82% mixing can be finished within a mixing distance of less than 3.0mm for flow rates ranging from 1.2mul/min to 20mul/min. The mixing results were validated by comparing the flow patterns between numerical results and experimental results. There was a strong agreement between numerical results and experimental results